Trump impeachment: One of president's key targets to lead trial against him
Adam Schiff: Evidence will 'expose' how Mitch McConnell worked 'hand-in-hand' with president to dismiss case
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Your support makes all the difference.A senior Democrat mocked by Donald Trump as "pencil-neck" and a "deranged human being" will lead the case against him in the president's impeachment trial in the Senate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced.
Congressman Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, was named one of the "managers" of the process, which is expected to begin next week.
Ms Pelosi also appeared to send a message to Vladimir Putin as Russian-backed groups are accused of sowing chaos on social media while the US prepares for 2020 elections after investigations reveal the depth of 2016 interference.
She said: "This is about the Constitution of the United States, and it's important for the president to know, and for Putin to know, that voters in America should decide who our president is, not Vladimir Putin and Russia."
Among the other Democratic leaders who will make the case for Mr Trump being removed from office, after the House impeached him on 18 December, is Jerry Nadler, who presided over the House impeachment vote.
Ms Pelosi also announced that Zoe Lofgren, Hakeem Jeffries, Val Demings, Jason Crow and Sylvia Garcia will join the congressmen "to present the very strong case for the president's impeachment and removal."
The trial marks Ms Lofgren's third impeachment, having participated in proceedings against Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.
Ms Pelosi defended her decision to withhold articles of impeachment against the president following the House vote last month, pointing to additional damning evidence that has surfaced in the following weeks that "further proves that the president was an essential player in the scheme" to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals in exchange for millions of dollars in already-approved military aid while Ukraine faced an ongoing assault from Russia.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has boasted that he is in "total coordination" with the White House as he attacked the process and House charges against the president. He denied giving assurances to the House that the Senate would introduce witnesses and evidence — including testimony from former national security chief John Bolton and acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney — and sponsored an effort to dismiss the impeachment entirely when it comes to the Senate.
On Tuesday, he said he expects a trial to begin on 21 January, following the House submission of articles and managers on Wednesday.
Ms Pelosi said that "time has been our friend through all of this" as more evidence has entered the public domain following the House's historic December vote. The House Speaker said new evidence and testimony should insist to the Senate "that there be witnesses and we see documentation".
She repeated that a successful attempt to dismiss the charges against Mr Trump would amount to a "cover-up".
Mr Schiff said the Senate leader "made it clear he didn't want a trial in the Senate" and that the time between the impeachment vote and the trial will "expose the degree to which [Mr McConnell is working hand-in-hand with the president".
It will also be the Senate, not just the president, that will be on trial in the proceedings, Mr Nadler said.
He said: "If the Senate doesn't permit the introduction of all relevant witnesses and of all documents the House wants to introduce, because the House is a prosecutor here, then the Senate is engaging in an unconstitutional and disgusting cover-up. Does the Senate conduct a trial according to the Constitution, to vindicate the republic? Or does the Senate participate in the president's crimes by covering them up?"
In a statement, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed that the president has "done nothing wrong" and "looks forward to having the due process rights in the Senate" that she claims the president was denied in the House, despite repeated attempts to subpoena administration officials and documents as well as an opportunity for Mr Trump himself to appear with counsel.
On Twitter, Mr Trump called the impeachment "another Con Job by the Do Nothing Democrats. All of this work was supposed to be done by the House, not the Senate!"
Ms Grisham says Mr Trump "expects to be fully exonerated" by the Senate.
"He has been impeached forever", Ms Pelosi said. "They can never erase that."
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